Mark Taylor – Washington

April 2018

Man caught with ‘grotesque’ indecent images

A pervert caught with “grotesque” indecent photographs and videos was told the images cause “crippling misery” to the young victims who are abused to produce them.

Mark Taylor was found to have an illegal collection of footage and still images featuring young children.

A court heard one 15 minute video showed a boy and girl estimated to be aged between four and eight having sexual activity with each other.

The 47-year-old old pleaded guilty to making indecent images and possessing extreme pornography featuring a dog and a woman.

Judge Amanda Rippon, at Newcastle Crown Court, told him: “Every single child you looked at was a real child.

“Every single child was abused in the most grotesque way.

“Every time you looked at one of them being abused, you abused that child again.

“Children who have the understanding they are being filmed, understand why. They understand their humiliation and the abuse will be viewed again and again and again.

“That crippling misery is what they have to live with above and beyond the awful abuse of the people that are filming and abusing them.

“Every single child. This is not a victimless crime, it’s grotesque.

“You have a child now. You begin to imagine.”

The judge imposed an eight month prison sentence, suspended for two years with a 10 year sexual harm prevention order and a requirement he signs the sex offenders register for the same period.

Judge Rippon warned him: “If you come back before me for offences of this kind in that two years, I will pretty much throw away the key, as far as I’m able to.”

She added: “You are of previous good character. That’s now gone forever in the worst possible way.”

Police went to Taylor’s home in Washington last February and seized a computer tower and two laptops.

They found 53 videos and 10 still images of the most serious type, category A, 24 videos and 23 images in category B and 33 videos and 28 images in category C. There was also one extreme pornography movie.

Rachel Masters, prosecuting, said: “The defendant was interviewed and he accepted he downloaded the images and viewed them recently.

“He thought they were mainly of children between eight and 11.

“He accepted he had a sexual attraction to children of that age.”

Taylor, of Howardian Close, Washington, who has no previous convictions, admitted three offences of making indecent images and one of possessing extreme pornography.